Mike Peters: The Welsh singer/songwriter once of The Alarm

Once the frontman of stadium rockers The Alarm, MIKE PETERS has found new direction since the band split. The Welsh singer/songwriter spoke to James Lewis.

Mike Peters

Most Christians will be familiar with Mike Peters as the frontman for Greenbelt
favourites, the Alarm - who were the most requested act there along
with U2 and Cliff Richard during the 80s. The band were famous for the
"cartoon punk anthems" and naive idealism for which they were
frequently attacked by the ever-trendy music press. Never popular with
NME and co they still commanded a fiercely loyal following which
ensured that although none of their subsequent singles were as
successful as "68 Guns", their albums were always guaranteed a chart
placing. Alarm concerts produced a "clan" atmosphere which was likened
to "church in a Welsh-at-Cardiff-Arms-Park sort of a way" by Strait
magazine writer, Martin Wroe.

It also has to be said that The Alarm, with other Christianised
mainstream bands like U2, The Call and Lone Justice were dealing with
the doubts and agonies of faith quite a long time before CCM decided
it wasn't really heresy to admit to not feeling exactly victorious all
the time, thanks to people like Russ Taff and Jon Gibson (although Rez
and Larry Norman deserves a special mention). "The Deceiver" cuts to
the heart of spiritual warfare much better than the plethora of songs
that White Metal used to have a habit of producing. "The Stand", based
on the definitely not-a-Christian Stephen King's book of the same name
exhorts us to "Come on down and meet your maker/Come on down and make
the stand". Contrary to popular belief about songs by Christians
working in the mainstream there are quite a few other songs, mostly on
The Alarm's first and last full albums, that were fairly clear
Christian statements for those with ears to hear.

However on 30th June 1991, Mike announced from the stage of Brixton
Academy that this was to be his last concert with The Alarm. Almost
three years later people could be forgiven for thinking that Mike had
just disappeared.

However Mike has been a busy man - the last couple of years have seen
two versions of his new backing group, The Poets - full name Poets Of
Justice, and four tours. The last but one was in support of his debut
single appropriately enough titled "Back Into The System" backed with
"A New Chapter". The month of April saw a mini-tour followed by a
series of support slots for Aimee Mann's tour which is followed by a
return to the studio during May and June to complete work on his first
solo album, much of which has already been recorded.

But what actually happened? Mike is very up front about his recent
history; "When I left the band, it was at the end of a very emotional
time really, a very difficult time -I lost my father and then my
sister had a very violent brain haemorrhage and it left the whole of
the family just decimated... I felt very vulnerable and at the same
time I was feeling quite alone within the band. I couldn't really put
my finger on it - we'd grown up as friends but I felt more and more
isolated within the framework of The Alarm. They wanted to adopt a
much more communal song writing approach which I went along with.
However with the first four albums I had been the main songwriter and
heavily involved at the forefront of the direction of the group -now I
was being restricted to just one of four members. I went along with it
because we'd been friends for a long time but it felt very
difficult... I felt we had this barrier that we couldn't break through
in The Alarm, and I just became frustrated and I thought, 'This isn't
a healthy position to be in, musically.' There was a lot of emotional
pressure inside of me."

After leaving The Alarm, Mike took some time out to be with his
family, enjoying their company and coping with the double tragedy.
That time was actually very helpful in some ways - his mother was a
very strong support and an inspiration to the family through it all,
and Mike discovered new sides to his father through speaking to
friends at the funeral. As he has shared from the stage at times,
during the introduction to "Train A Coming", a song movingly dedicated
to his father, Mike had an opportunity to talk about his faith and get
to know him a lot better before he died - something that he is
grateful for.

Nevertheless, Mike has at times had severe doubts and questions,
unsurprisingly during such a traumatic time. Some of the recent songs
deal with these uncertainties, and Mike feels that his work has to
encompass all of his experiences now, not just the positive. "I didn't
want to polish it up because I think there's a lot of people that have
their own perception of Mike Peters and The Alarm - I wanted to
smash that perception. They'll say 'Oh, Mike Peters is an artist with Christian
faith' and then they won't listen to me again". Instead Mike believes
that if he expresses his negativity people will prick up their ears
and may just listen to the whole sweep of Mike's music. Some
Christians will be uncomfortable with the exploration of the darker
side of his nature but Mike is confident that this is actually a
healthy sign; as he says of "Back Into The System" - "It demonstrates
the freedom I now have - it expresses the cynicism, the humour, the
doubts and the expression of faith, the whole thing I think it says
I'm a more balanced character now, I'm not one dimensional."

Of course, that was one of the main accusations levelled at The Alarm
by the critics, that they were one-dimensional, and in hindsight Mike
concedes they had a point. Much of this due to the rest of the band
who surprisingly not only restricted the Christian content of the
songs but also objected to songs that were too "dark" or sensitive.
The unequal yoking and self-censorship of the band took it's toll on
Mike: "I didn't exactly lose my confidence but I think by trying to
appease everyone in the group, by trying to say, 'OK, I'll write about
things that affect me, like my faith, but I won't put it in quite as
open terms as I'd like to - I'll smooth it out a bit so the band can
sit with it, feel comfortable with the words,' that started to have an
effect on me as an artist. I wasn't as incisive as I could have been
like I was when making earlier records. When I left I felt like a
massive weight had been taken off my shoulders - all of a sudden I
didn't have anyone looking over my shoulder when I was writing lyrics.
I just felt free again."

In the past Mike had a great reluctance to express his faith, partly
because he felt that to encapsulate it in a few sentences would
inevitably diminish it, partly because of lack of confidence in being
able to express it, and partly due to fear of being seen as merely a
platform for a particular brand of evangelical Christianity -something
the rest of The Alarm were wary of. "The first time we played
Greenbelt I really had to persuade the band it wasn't like the Moonies
cult or something - it was just a bunch of great people having a great
time celebrating life, and so the first time I played it was on my own
(Dave Sharp has since played there solo, including in his set a song
based on some of the stories in the Old Testament). I think the band
were concerned about being pigeonholed as a "Christian" band really.

Now Mike feels his own man and free to express his beliefs - recent
work like "I Want What The World Can't Give Me", "Train A Coming",
"Spiritual", "Devil's World" and possibly the as-yet unaired
"Hallelujah" are as explicit as early songs like "The Stand", "Unsafe
Building", "Blaze Of Glory" and "The Deceiver" - all of which are
still being played in Mike's set. But songs like "20th Century"
confess that, even though he condemns cynicism and bitterness, the
spirit of the age has rubbed off on the singer as he asks, "Is this
really what you want from me?"

Mike met up with Chris Kimsey (Rolling Stones' producer) and played
him some demo tapes made with a drum machine. Chris suggested he use
Ethan Johns, the son of Glyn Johns (also a producer), and his band,
all session players. Mike spoke to Ethan and they got on very well.
Thus, along with wife Jules on keyboards, the first incarnation of The
Poets was born. Says Mike: "I wanted the control of being a solo
artist, being able to direct the music and direct the whole band
towards the ideas that I can see in my mind. But I also wanted the
emotional cushion that being in a band can bring when you're not quite
sure - you can go and say 'What do you think?' and know that they will
give you an objective opinion."

"We worked and it was great -I think I was getting off on the buzz of
just playing again with other musicians." But after two tours the
flaws of the line-up began to show. Mike found the band atmosphere
lacking within in a group of session musicians. Also outside
commitments meant that members of the band frequently needed a
stand-in. Mike found as well a reluctance on the part of the group to
delve into his back catalogue."... they were a bit resentful about
playing songs from The Alarm and if they did want to, they wanted to
change them and do it their way. I said "Hold on, you might think you
can do better but a lot of people really enjoyed them as they
were."... I don't want to forget my past -I actually really like the
'Declaration' album - the reason I stopped The Alarm is because The
Alarm weren't going to be The Alarm much longer."

Mike pulled back for a bit to have a rethink and then got in touch
with Jess, a Welsh group who released a Welsh-language rock album, and
on which Mike guested on several tracks (The Alarm's "Change" was made
available in a limited Welsh language version). They had played with
The Alarm on several occasions and were friends as well. The new Poets
(Jess plus Jules) are likely to be a long-term prospect; "The good
thing about them is that they are really nice guys. I've known them
for a really long time, and they know me inside out and have a respect
for what I have achieved."

It appears that the balance between solo artist and group member that
Mike has been looking for has been found "I have literally got the
best of both worlds. The lines are clearly drawn between us - we know
exactly where we stand and how we like to work, an understanding of
each other. We also come from a similar background, which is very
important; we understand each other on a spiritual level (Jess comes
from a typical Welsh 'Chapel' background), as well as on a musical
level, which is very important to me as well.

Free of The Alarm and now with the right band of musicians around him,
Mike is ready to take on the world and relishes the challenge. Whereas
The Alarm were staunchly traditional in their music, dare I say
Luddite, the new material is feet sensible. It could be argued that it
might be a bad move considering the other main accusation held against
The Alarm, that of being U2 clones, but the new material does have a
similar influence to Zooropa (though less industrial) or that of
Deacon Blue or INXS' more recent albums. But the fact remains that
Mike appears to have taken to the style like a duck to water. Despite
the humorous knocking of U2 in "Back Into The System", Mike is fairly
happy to be compared to them. However, he is keen to point out U2 have
borrowed from The Alarm as well - the western feel and style of
"Declaration" cropped up later in "The Joshua Tree" - The Alarm had a
more mainstream rock and roll attitude than U2 to begin with.

It's no accident that Mike is borrowing heavily from the start of The
Alarm - using Declaration-era imagery on the debut single cover, not
to mention the fact that almost all of The Alarm songs currently on
the set-list are from the first album, 1981's "Unsafe Building" and
"Spirit Of 76" from "Strength" being the only exceptions.

"There are parallels, it's really strange, but there are definite
parallels between the growth of "The Alarm" and the growth of the solo
career." And what with the renaissance of early 80's songs, e.g. The
Bluebells, 80's retro could be a good idea.

And the future looks fairly bright - Mike has signed with Welsh indie
label Crai - an unknown quantity, but the first single debuted at No.5
in the indie chart which indicates a strong core following already and
with upwards of 60 songs to choose from written over the last few
years there is no need for a let-up in the assault on the charts for a
long time to come.

The opinions expressed in this article are
not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed
views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may
not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a
later date.

About James Lewis

(strong>James Lewis lives in Horsham, West Sussex, and is a regular Cross Rhythms reviewer.

Reader Comments

Posted by CathyC in USA @ 12:27 on Apr 28 2014

I'm an LA girl and listened to KROQ and KYMS simultaneously.
We new wave christians took comfort in The Alarm and U2,
there weren't many mainstream bands with faith. Good to read
this, 20 years late, but better than never.